1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for performing an animal-related action regarding at least a part of the body of an animal, comprising a cleaning tool, adapted to be brought into contact with said part, a support means provided to support the cleaning tool, and a drive means provided to move the cleaning tool along the contour of said part. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method of performing an animal-related action regarding at least a part of a body of an animal, comprising the steps of: bringing a cleaning tool into contact with said part, and moving the cleaning tool along the contour of the said part.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Automatic milking of animals is known from e.g. EP-A-91 892. Such automatic milking may take place in one or more combined feeding and milking stalls provided in a barn in which the animals are allowed to walk about freely and find their way voluntarily to the stalls for feeding, drinking and milking. The animals, voluntarily entering the milking stall, are automatically identified with the aid of a computer connected to identification means. By means of the computer, in which facts concerning each animal, when it was last milked, etc. are stored, an automatic handling device is activated to pick up the teatcups of a milking machine and attach them to the teats of the animal.
One problem in connection with such automatic milking is to determine the position of the teats of the animal being present in the stall in order to enable said attachment. A number of different solutions has been proposed to solve this problem. Thereby, one may differ between forcing systems and searching systems. Forcing systems are based on the idea of forcing, for example by physically pushing, the animal to a determined position in the milking stall and in which the teats then may be found by means of a sophisticated search equipment, for example including a video camera and image processing. Search systems are based on the idea that the animal may stay in any position in the milking stall and it is the task of the search system to determine the position of the animal. Thereby, a rough determination of the position of the animal may first be performed, and from this rough position, the position of the teats may be determined by means of a more sophisticated search equipment. Such search systems are advantageous in connection with voluntary milking described above, since it is important for the functioning of such a milking concept that the animals are encouraged to enter the milking stall and therefore forcing the animal should be avoided as far as possible. Furthermore, in connection with automatic milking it is known to determine the position of a cow being present in the milking stall by means of a device comprising spring biased arms abutting the cow and following her movements. Such a device functions for the determination of a rough position of the animal, from which position the teats of the animal then may be found by a more sophisticated search equipment. However, such devices are mechanically very complex with many moving elements, and therefore they are subjected to wear and the reliability thereof is not satisfying. Moreover, cows being fairly strong easily may damage such arms; a mere bending thereof results in an inaccurate measurement of the animal position.
Another problem in connection with automatic milking is that the udder and in particular the teats must be cleaned before the attachment of the teatcups. Such cleaning procedure must be possible to perform automatically. Thereby, it is known to spray a cleaning liquid, such as water, on the udder from beneath by means of a nozzle provided on the floor of the milking stall. However, such cleaning does not work satisfactorily for dirt being ingrained, thereby increasing the risk of contamination of the milk. Moreover, there is a number of prior art devices proposed for mechanically cleaning the teats before milking.
EP-A-535 755 discloses a device for cleaning the teats of milk-producing animals, having a computer with means for process control. With the aid of the computer a casing comprising two rotating brushes are moved against the udder to enclose the same, and thereby the brushes are contacting and cleaning the teats. Monitoring means are provided to determine the contamination of the teats and thus the termination of the cleaning process may be controlled.
EP-A-535 756 discloses a similar device having position determining means adapted to determine the position of the teats for facilitating the application of the cleaning device. The device disclosed in these two documents has a very complicated structure and large dimensions, making it difficult to house it in the already fairly limited space of the milking stall.
EP-A-643 910 discloses an implement for milking of animals. The implement comprises a milking robot having a robot arm being able to carry teatcups and a cleaning member for cleaning the teats of the animal. The cleaning member is provided to be coupled to or uncoupled from the robot arm.
FR-A-2 159 370 discloses an apparatus for cleaning the udder and the teats of a cow. The apparatus comprises a pair of rotating brushes which are movable against the udder of the cow by means of pneumatic cylinders.
EP-A-309 036 discloses a mechanism for cleaning the udder and the teats of a cow. The mechanism comprises a rotatable brush supported by a fork which is tiltable upwardly by means of a counterweight against the udder of the cow.